Window shade construction



March 12,1946. A. L THEXTON 2,396,542

WINDOW SHADE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 9, 1944 INVENTOR.

W ld 17% Patented Mar. 12, 1946 WINDOW SHADE CONSTRUCTION Arthur L. Thexton, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Clopay Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Application November 9, 1944, Serial No. 562,612

3 Claims.

This invention relates to window shades and is particularly concerned with an improvement in the construction of the pocket conventionally formed on the depending edge of the shade for the reception of a stiffening slat. The invention has particular application to shades formed from paper or similar fibrous materials although it also has some application to cloth shades.

In the case of window shades formed from paper and similar fibrous materials it has not been entirely practical to form the slat receiving pocket in the manner conventional in cloth shades, that is, by folding the end of the shade upwardly and then forming a hem line across the shade. The reason for this is that the stitching of the hem tends, to a certain extent, to weaken the tensile strength of the shade with the result that under exceptionally rough treatment the shade may become torn along this stitch line. Even if not actually torn, a line of weakening is thereby established and with the passage of time the apertures formed by the stitching tend to enlarge slightly and to become unsightly.

With the solution of this problem in mind, the present invention contemplates the formation of the slat receiving hem in a novel way which is rather particularly adapted to paper shades and which provides a resulting structure which is not only stronger but also of improved appearance than structures formed by the conventional stitching method.

In brief, the invention contemplates the upward folding of the extended end of the shade to a point slightly above the upper edge of the still"- ening slat. A strip of gummed tape formed preferably of paper of the same color and texture as that of the shade is then secured to the outer edge of the folded portion and the body of the shade itself. The lower edge of the gummed strip preferably coincides exactly with the fold in the shade body so as to give the appearance of the conventional hem. If desired, a stitch line may then be formed across the outer surface of the gummed tape by printing or the like. The resultant structure has the exact appearance of a stitched shade but it is considerably stronger and more durable. Shades of this sort are also somewhat cheaper to manufacture because of the elimination of the stitching operation.

Referring now to the drawing:

Figure l is an elevational view of a shade of the type of the invention in extended position in a window opening.

Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the lower edge of the shade particularly illustrating the details of the construction.

As shown in Figure 1, I0 is a window shade preferably formed from paper or similar fibrous material and wound on the roller II which is positioned on brackets in the window frame I2. The salt receiving pocket is indicated generally as l3, and I4 is the representation of a stitch line formed on the shade by a printing.

The details of the invention are best illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 in which [5 represents the extended edge of the shade I 0 folded upwardly to a point slightly above that of the upper edge of the stiffening slat l6 shown in its normal position. A strip of gummed tape l 1 is disposed horizontally across the extended folded edge of the shade so that the lower edge of the tape is coextensive with the fold line l8 of the shade, and the upper edge is disposed substantially above the upper edge of the folded-over portion l5. This gummed tape is then tightly secured along its length to the outer surface of the folded-over portion 15 and also to the body of the shade I0.

It will be noted that in the completed construction the pocket formed for the reception of the slat is of double ply thereby providing increased strength. The adherence of the gummed strip 11 to the shade body [0 can be made very strong and secure, much more so than the degree of securance provided by a stitch line. In addition, the shade is actually strengthened by the construction rather than weakened as is the case with stitching. If desired the gummed strip may be of a color contrasting with that of the shade to form a pleasing ornamental effect. While particularly adapted to shades formed from paper or other fibrous material, it will be obvious that the invention can also be utilized with cloth shades particularly those in which the surface is receptive to adhesive attachment.

Although the invention is a. simple one it has solved a definite problem in this particular art.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a window shade including a shade body, a slat receiving pocket comprising the upwardly folded depending end of said shade body and a strip of sheet material horizontally disposed across the shade body, said strip being adhesively secured to the outer surface of said upwardly foldedportion and to the body of the shade above the upturned portion thereof.

2. In a window shade including a shade body, a slat receiving pocket formed on the depending end of said body, said pocket comprising an upthe body above the upwardly folded end thereof,

the lower edge of the strip substantially coinciding with the fold-line on the body.

3. In a window shade including a shade body, a slat receiving pocket formed on the depending edge of said body, said pocket comprising an up- 10 wardly folded end portion of the body and a strip of sheet material horizontally disposed across the body, said strip being adhesively secured to the surface of the upwardly folded end portion and to the shade body, above the upwardly folded end portion thereof, the lower edge of the strip substantially coinciding with the fold-line on the body, and a representation of a stitch line formed on the strip horizontally thereof.

- ARTHUR L. THEXTON. 

